


FREEDOM

by kiiyanreki



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Alternative Lifestyles, Angst, Band Fic, Gen, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, Musicians, Nonbinary Character, References to Real People, Slice of Life, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:34:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28667061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiiyanreki/pseuds/kiiyanreki
Summary: FREEDOM - 1.10.2021When rivalry exists, you have one goal. To be better than them. Sometimes life gets in the way of that, or does it? A young team of talented high school teenagers have only each other to compete; a deadline. Two new band members join the separate bands who has an blood-boiling rivalry. Although, rivalry may not always be the case...
Kudos: 2





	1. DIALOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> *** AUTHOR'S NOTE :
> 
> hii!! kr here. i have a few things to say:
> 
> !!! !!!  
> \- please do NOT sexualize the people in the fic! they are minors in high school, and as they are minors irl. please don't say any comments sexually about them! ^^  
> \- they are real people! they are based off of real people in the au. each character is a minor irl and as stated before, please don't say anything gross abt them! thank you. :)
> 
> !!! !!!
> 
> i have school so i might be a bit slow with the work! please be patient with me! T_#;; i don't have a certain 'schedule' i work at and usually is at my own time, so please don't ask! 
> 
> thank you and enjoy reading! <3

Kaleb sat down, putting his instrument down in sync next to his chair. He leaned back and did a heavy sigh, running his hands through his silky hair before he leaned back up and did a small friendly smile to his childhood friend. He rested his head on his hand and rounded the rims of his cup with a finger. “Glad we could finally meet up,” he said tremulously, a smile still on his lips from glee. Bug seemed to share the mutual contentment; it made the feeling of nostalgia back to them. They traded their smile with a slight one. The air seemed so thin to the both of them. “Yeah, me too. How is my younger brother doing?” Bug asked him. Kaleb looked away and did a small laugh. “You’re only two years older than me.” He answered the ‘younger brother’ remark his friend made lightheartedly. “I’m doing quite fine. How about you?”  
“Doing well also.” Bug answered quickly to reply to the waitress who just came to their table. Kaleb listened to the short convo they both had, Bug nodding as the Waitress walked away to go to another table to answer their question.

“How have you been doing with school? Since it’s been awhile since we last went out. I wanted to check up on you in person.” Bug asked, Kaleb blinked and caught on to what they were asking. “School… Ah..” he looked for words to explain, Bug waited patiently for him to reply. “It’s been quite alright, exams are always on my ass this time around, y’know?” Bug did a gentle giggle in amusement. “Yeah, I understand. School has been tiring for me too.” Their eyes glanced over at the instrument next to Kaleb, it in a black case with small anime-themed key chains on the zipper. They quickly looked back at him to not look like they were doing anything rude. “You play an instrument, KR?” They tilted their head. “Oh! Yeah, I do.” He replied, almost happy that Bug noticed. “I play the guitar. Or I want to play the guitar...”  
“What? Do you not know how to play it?” Bug asked. Kaleb looked away and blushed a bit in embarrassment. Bug raised their eyebrows as they took a sip of their drink. “I don’t. I want to learn, though.”  
“Ah,” Bug wiped the soda off of their lips with their sleeve. “Speaking of instruments… I got this new base set for my birthday. One of my friend’s friend suggested that I join their band.” Kaleb blinked twice in surprise. “Oh! I forgot. I got invited into one also, this weird person went up to me and asked if I wanted to join theirs. I don’t know their name but we exchanged numbers and they texted me for a while and sent their location where we’re supposed to be practicing later tonight.” He fondled the colorful butterfly clips in his hair to entertain himself. “I hope you enjoy your time there.” Bug chirped in friendliness. They watched as he pulled out his phone. To check the time? “I have to go now.” He got up with a sigh. Kaleb stretched, just now getting up. He fixed his hoodie and hair before grabbing his instrument and putting behind his back. His slim figure stumbled a little before getting balanced, slowly putting his head back a bit to sigh with a bit of exhaustion. Kaleb looked at a window; It was sundown. The sky was a pretty orange, eliminating the streets with an gorgeous orange color. Bug watched him stare off, their eyes examining the tall person. “I got to go now, thank you for inviting me here. Shall we meet up again?” He looked at them with hope in which they would say yes, waiting for a response. “Yeah, we can...” They trailed off. “Nice! Talk to you later!” Kaleb was already near the door. He waved the girl goodbye before leaving, the diner’s bell ringing to signal that someone left. 

He walked down the street in the city, the sound of cars passing by and the metal key chains dangling became normal for him as he looked down at his phone. He was on a GPS, the location was the one the person gave him. It was definitely in an unfamiliar area of town. He looked around the area while waiting to walk across a crosswalk. Kaleb finally found his way to the location, he took in the details of the area. It seemed like a vacation home but in a neighborhood, small but well built and room for enough people. He bit his tongue. Why did this seem so intimidating? He went on his phone once again to ask to just come in. Seconds later the person messaged him back, welcoming him in.  
He put his hand on the knob and twisted it, the door slowly opening and him stepping inside. He looked back to close the door behind him. “I see you came.” A voice began, directed at him. He looked in the direction of where he heard it, scanning the other people in the room. Kaleb slowly walked towards them, the sound of people chatting in the background. The person was holding a small can of Coke. She had messy wavy hair with glasses. “Oh, yes I did! I’m afraid I didn’t introduce myself when we met. I’m Erin.” He pointed towards the other people in the room. One was sitting on a chair near a set of drums, while the other one was leaning against the wall on her phone. “Those are the other band members; we’ve been working together for a while now so I’m sure they would love somebody new like you.” Kaleb smiled a bit. _Is this the same thing as saying I’m fresh meat?_ Erin walked towards them, turning her head around a bit and signaling to follow them across the room. He hesitantly walked along. “Erin, I didn’t know you recruited someone?” The girl looked at Kaleb and then Erin again. “Looks like he can’t play for shit…” The other person who was sitting next to the girl mumbled. “Seems unnecessary, Venus. Keep your manners, yeah?” The girl whispered lowly as she gently kicked Venus’ foot to keep him in check. He seemed unamused by Kaleb as he stood there awkwardly. The air seemed so thick to breathe in. Erin did a small reassuring chuckle to Kaleb. “This is Trinity and Venus’.” She introduced. “They are an odd bunch. Ignore the snarky comments they make.” Venus’ rolled his eyes in a bit of frustration. Sassy much? Kaleb sighed. He waited for Erin to talk but the person who talked instead was Trinity. “Let us see your instrument.” 

“Mine?”  
“Yeah, yours.”  
“Okay.”  
Kaleb slowly got his guitar off of him and settled it down on the wood floors of the nicely built home. He unzipped it, the metal key chains clattering together with barely any force. He felt a bit overwhelmed from the spotlight on him. He then opened the case. One of the strings’ was broken. From force maybe? “Oh. I forgot the string was broken.” He felt so hot from the embarrassment. A figure sat down across from him. “I’ll fix it.” Venus’ said aggressively, almost as Erin forced him to fix his instrument. He gently grabbed Kaleb’s guitar and sat it in his lap, his fingers sliding across the 3 strings. He plucked one of the strings. “This is out of tune,” He said under his breath as a note to himself. He got handed guitar strings from Trinity, Venus’ wiring the string back up. He plucked the guitar once again, but on the once-broken string. His hands slowly slid up until they got to the tuning pegs. He strung each string each time he turned a peg. Once finished, he handed the guitar to Kaleb. His eyes lit up as he held his fixed guitar. “You don’t know how to play, don’t you?” Venus asked the shorter non-binary. Kaleb paused a bit to process an answer. “I don’t…” He looked away. “But do you?” He asked. “I had a cousin that knew how to play. He taught me somehow and I still don’t remember. Not like you’d care, anyways.” Kaleb shifted a bit awkwardly. He looked a bit worried, well for Venus’ mental health anyway. Erin clapped to get their attention. “It’s starting to get a bit late,” Kaleb put his guitar back in the case. “Don’t worry, KR!” Erin patted his head. “We rehearse until a bit late, but if you feel tired you can go home!” Kaleb nodded. “I don’t mind being here.” He got up and brushed his pants off a bit. Erin’s lips slid into an ecstatic smile. 

“Thanks.”


	2. CHAPTER I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!! i would like to apologize for the slow chapters. i am currently procrastinating so bad so please be patient with me. thank you

` i wish i knew how we would be from the beginning when we first met. i wouldn’t have expected what i received. i regret not regretting our relationship. 

“God damn it, Elliot!” Vicky snapped, Elliot turning around in surprise but before he could talk Vicky was already hands close to grabbing him. He got up and ran across the room, him taking steps backward in fear. “What do you mean? I didn’t mean to drop the vase-” Elliot held his breath as he stumbled to the side and bumped into a slightly taller person than him. He gasped for air. “Tengen!” The person turned around quite frustrated at the immature boy. Tengen did a low groan of aggravation. “Can you both just behave yourselves for once? Damn.”  
She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Vicky quickly grabbed Elliot by his shirt and yanked him towards her, before she could put any necessary harm on Elliot, Tengen stepped in between them. “I don’t think fighting would be necessary for this situation, Vicky.” She said, her voice thick. Vicky stepped back from the two, Elliot stepping back in sync also. “Can you both behave yourselves this once? We have a new person joining, first impressions matter you know.” Elliot sighed as Tengen slowly stepped back to allow space for herself. Vicky seemed to mumble something under her breath but it wasn’t audible to anyone else, Elliot looked away and ignored the somewhat rude remark. The group turned around to hear the sound of a doorknob slowly turning. Quickly, Tengen rushed over to the door to slowly open it. Her face lit up as she saw the shorter girl standing at their door.  
“Bug..!” She said, gesturing her to walk into the somewhat nice area. “I’m glad you could come.” Tengen slowly led her to the back of the room where the rest of the group was. Bug smiled a bit awkwardly, then thanking Tengen for inviting her. While following Tengen, they saw a small cat walk out of one of the doors. It was a small orange tabby cat, with short fur and round eyes. It had a collar with the name “KITA” written on the nametag. Bug slowly went to pet the small kitten, meowing with friendliness. Kita rubbed against Bug’s finger in playfulness. Tengen noticed Bug with the cat, “Oh. That’s Kita,” she went over to Bug, “she’s Vicky’s cat.” Bug stood up, brushing some of the cat fur off of her. _Vicky?_ “You probably haven’t met Vicky yet, come on.” Tengen’s voice was light, leading Bug towards an area where Elliot and Vicky sat at. Vicky got up and went towards Bug, Elliot following along slowly.  
Tengen seemed to whisper something to the two strangers. Bug faked a smile as Tengen turned back around. “This is Elliot and Vicky.”  
“Nice to meet you.” Vicky gave the girl a small smile. She glanced a bit at Elliot and gently kicked him to grab his attention to the new member. “Ah, hi! Nice to meet you also…?” Elliot seemed to quickly look at Vicky then at Bug. Bug awkwardly shuffled, fondling her fingers around. “I’m Bug.” They introduced. “Cute name!” Vicky complimented. Tengen sighed in relief of the two not being reckless. “Do you like food?” Elliot asked, slowly getting up. “We should all go out later, yeah? And practice when we get back here.” Tengen seemed a bit hesitant about the idea, but she agreed to do it. Vicky got up also, walking towards the door. Tengen tagged along, gesturing for the other two to follow along. 

Erin could see her foggy breaths in the air, it felt cold. Her eyes looked droopy from exhaustion, well _not_ exhaustion from sleep, but the weather. It was cold, winter... Although she had a jacket on, she could feel the cold breeze against her. Erin hated it. She took a slight turn of her head to look at the slightly taller person who was Kaleb, him picking his lip while scrolling through his phone. Behind them was walking both Venus and Trinity. Erin looked back in front of her.  
“I’m not used to this kind of weather,” Kaleb started. “It’s a bit colder than usual.”  
“Yeah,” Erin replied.  
“I wanted to thank you.”  
“For what?”  
“For inviting me and everything.”  
“Oh, you’re welcome.” Erin simpered. “I don’t mind it.”  
Kaleb did a small giggle, in friendliness anyway. All they could hear was Trinity’s and Venus’ small short ended conversations. Venus was looking at the sidewalk they were walking on counting his steps out of boredom while Trinity ranted to him. “Are you even listening to me?” Trinity peered in a lowly frustrated fashion. Venus looked up and looked at Trinity, looking away to the front of them. “Whatever would make you shut up. That’s my answer.” _So narcissistic…_ Trinity groaned. “You’re so care-free, Venus. When will you ever care about someone?” she sneered.  
“I don’t know. Until I find someone to care about, I guess.”  
“That’s not the right answer.” Trinity sighed. She already gave up on the tall seemingly childish friend she had. She quickly paced over to Kaleb and tapped him on his shoulder, him looking back in a bit of confusion. “Hm?” his eyes widened a bit, waiting for a reply.  
“Can you talk to Venus? I’ll stay up here with Erin.” Trinity said under her breath where only Kaleb could hear. “Why?” he asked. The girl seemed to search for words before quickly mumbling “You need bonding time.” and softly pushing Kaleb behind her so he was walking side to side with Venus. Kaleb felt a bit of awkwardness, fear maybe? He could say he was a bit intimated. To ease himself he continued scrolling through his socials on his phone, him staying with the small group they had together.  
“You’re a quiet one,” Venus remarked. Kaleb looked up at him. His stomach felt weird. It felt a bit like worry. _Ugh._  
“You didn’t expect to talk, didn’t you?” Kaleb asked.  
“I did.”  
He couldn’t help but did a small snicker. “Okay, edgy boy.”  
“If any part of your mind thinks I’m ‘edgy’ then you’re wrong.”  
“Not edgy then. Mysterious. Do you get your way with your looks?”  
Venus looked away, holding back a shared laugh. “You could say that.” He continued walking in the cold winter air, watching other people pass by. Cars came by ever so often, people walked and talked in the streets. Mostly other teenagers gossiping in groups or small families going out. It was a weekend, after all. Kaleb felt at ease. He didn’t seem so scary after all. He leaned his head back, looking at the sky that was painted with clouds that rained down snow. Venus scanned the shorter person; he had curly black hair with small butterfly clips on his bangs, his ear full with earrings, him wearing a baggy black hoodie with a Killua print in the back with ripped jeans. 

They all stopped at a restaurant. It was huge; it had a small chalkboard with their weekly sales, window paint on the front. It looked like a small cafe, though on the inside it seemed like a mansion. They all collectively opened the door, Erin holding the door until the last person came in. Trinity could feel the warmth of the inside breeze on her clothes. It felt comforting. Erin closed the door and went to the counter where they ordered. “Let’s go ahead and get our table,” Trinity led them to the back where Kaleb and Venus trailed along. Kaleb noticed Trinity glancing behind them and making a somewhat worried face impression but quickly hiding it. Kaleb brushed it off, sitting at a table. He slowly put his phone on the table as he stretched in his seat, letting out a slight yawn before resting his hand on the table, looking out of the window waiting. Looking back to see if Erin came back yet, he noticed a familiar person across the restaurant. His vision was blurry, but he could make out the figure. He got up. Well, _attempted_ to get up but Trinity hushed for him to sit down. “Don’t move.” she hissed. Her aggressiveness was unintentional. It felt more like a threat than a command. “W...What?” he asked. “There is someone in this place. Not someone, people. There are people here in this place.”  
“No shit,” Venus mumbled.  
“Smartass,” Trinity whispered under her breath. “What I was saying KR, the people who we most hate are here.”  
“Who?”  
Trinity tilted her head towards the other side of the place they were eating at. Why did she point out the table where Bug was at? “Um…” Kaleb tried finding words to say. His gaze looked so sad. Did something happen? He tried to scan the figures with his bad eyesight. There was a girl, black straight hair, white. She seemed to be chatting with another person who seemed to be taller, them laughing as they carried on a convo. There sat Bug with a boy with black messy hair, a patch on his cheek to cover up a scar he had. They all talked and laughed with each other. Kaleb’s heart hurt a bit. _Why them?_ he awkwardly looked away and fondled his fingers, looking at the table quietly. “Don’t worry about them,” Trinity reassured.  
“They’re nothing to us.”  
“Oh. Okay.” Kaleb faked a smile, it was so hard for his lips not to quiver with sadness. Venus stared at him, his eyes cold and emotionless. Kaleb felt overwhelmed by the tension in the air. It felt suffocating. Why them? Why Bug? He couldn’t get over the fact that he would act as he hated them. His hands slowly came up to twirl his hand strands in nervousness and thought.  
Erin finally came over to their table, but before she sat down she came to Venus and stood behind his chair, one hand on his shoulder as she whispered something. It seemed important, anyway. She then sat down across from Kaleb. “Let’s eat, yeah? They should be coming with our order soon.”

Tengen put her cheek in her hand as she chattered with Vicky, slowly eavesdropping on Bug’s and Elliot’s conversation, as she knew Elliot couldn’t be trusted alone. Tengen felt like she was the parent of a five-year-old who ate Crayola crayons in kindergarten art class. She rolled her eyes at the thought. Bug seemed to stare off into the distance, people walking by, waiters and waitresses rushing over to take people’s orders and going back to the kitchen. It seemed so normal. Tengen looked in Bug’s direction, her quickly realizing what she was staring at. Them. Tengen felt a bit of hatred in her throat. She felt words trying to come out of her lips, but she suppressed them. Vicky seemed to notice them too. They both collectively stared at them with a cold, hard glare. _It was so embarrassing._ Vicky thought. _I hated seeing them win. Embarrassing us in front of everyone. I never thought I’d hate anyone more. _The memories of Erin being on stage, sweat slowly dripping down her jaw out of anxiety. It was adrenaline. Vicky hated how she loved the way Erin sang on stage. The hot stage lights beaming, the crowd looking at them. Her thoughts got interrupted by Elliot.  
“Hey, Vicky.” He said, trying to get her attention. “They’re here.”  
“I know.”  
“Should we leave?”  
“We’re not leaving. Not yet.”  
He frowned. “Do we do something?”  
“No. Wait and observe. They probably don’t notice us here.”  
Vicky looked at Bug and Tengen. “Don’t stare, you two. Ignore them.”  
Tengen blinked. It felt weird being told what to do. She just nodded and continued drinking her soda. Bug went back on her phone, tracing her fingers along their phone-case. Elliot excused himself to the bathroom, just to leave them alone and leave the tension mostly. __

_Oh, I hate you. Everything about you. You make me feel like I’m in love all over again._


End file.
